In the outer waters of Bilgewater, rolling waves surged as dark green spray splashed high into the air.
The sky had gradually grown dark, and the ships that had once been coming and going across the sea had all vanished at this moment.
This left Zach very confused.
Logically speaking, ships from the Bilgewater Isles went out to sea regardless of whether it was day or night.
So why was he the only person in the outer waters today?
Zach rode his little boat, drawing closer to Bilgewater’s southern islands little by little.
It was also at this moment that a pale blue screen slowly appeared in front of Zach.
[The host has successfully helped Taliyah fulfill her dream!
Dream Fulfillment Rank: A!]
[Please choose one of the following four rewards!]
Looking at the two lines of text before him, Zach could not help feeling excited.
He quickly looked ahead, and four boxes appeared in front of him.
[Mana Reserves: After learning this, you can increase the recovery speed of the magic power within your body.]
[Rock Manipulation: Gain the ability to control rock!
The degree of control depends on your personal magic power and aptitude.]
[Basic Swordsmanship: Basic swordsmanship from the Wind Technique sword school!]
[Sandstorm Warning: Allows you to instinctively sense natural disasters related to sandstorms in advance!]
Zach looked at the four abilities before him, his eyes filled with intense joy.
He knew that Taliyah would definitely lead her people to the City of the Sun, and Azir would definitely settle them properly.
And he had successfully fulfilled Taliyah’s wish.
Now, it was time to reap the fruits of victory.
Zach looked at the four options ahead of him and chose the second one without the slightest hesitation.
The ability to control rock like Taliyah was exactly what Zach wanted most right now.
The other three were still decent, but they simply could not compare to Rock Manipulation.
After he made his choice, the pale blue screen in front of Zach slowly faded away, and a dense, muddy yellow light began shining in his hands.
An extremely ancient magic poured into his mind.
A very strange feeling suddenly appeared in Zach’s heart.
The current him seemed capable of casually controlling all the rocks around him!
Zach slowly stood up on the little boat and stretched lazily.
Then he opened the boat’s sail, preparing to continue all the way forward.
Right beneath his little boat, a massive shadow was rapidly approaching, rushing straight toward his vessel!
In the flash of an instant, Ascended power erupted from Zach’s body, and he left the boat in a heartbeat, leaping up into the air.
In the next instant, an incomparably thick anchor burst out from beneath the sea, smashing Zach’s little boat into pieces!
“!!!”
Zach’s heart lurched violently, and his body fell downward uncontrollably.
Even now, Zach still did not know why he had suddenly been attacked.
Was it a sea monster?
But why would it be an anchor?
On this vast ocean, aside from that little boat, he had almost nothing he could use for support.
After smashing Zach’s little boat apart, the anchor changed direction once again and charged straight toward him!
Looking at that rust-covered anchor, Zach kept feeling an incredibly familiar sensation.
But the anchor’s owner would not give Zach any time to hesitate.
Since he had already struck, that meant Zach would definitely be dragged into the water today!
The enormous anchor, nearly five meters long and pulled by an iron chain, lashed fiercely toward Zach’s body.
Zach’s body was enveloped in dense golden light.
He stepped hard on the surface of the water beneath his feet, and his hands, filled with Ascended power, met the giant anchor head-on.
Boom!
In the next instant, Zach’s hands and the anchor collided heavily.
The surging impact made the entire sea begin to churn, and waves rolled outward in every direction one after another.
Zach blocked the enormous anchor, but only barely.
On the violently churning sea, Zach simply could not stabilize his body.
On this vast ocean, both his Ascended power and his ability to control rock were greatly restricted.
The enormous anchor pierced through the surface of the sea once more.
This time, the anchor passed almost right against Zach’s shoulder.
The instant the anchor crossed over Zach’s head, the chain pulled it rapidly back into the sea, and the hook of the anchor instantly dragged Zach into the seawater.
Only this time, when the anchor pulled Zach into the sea, he did not use Ascended power to resist it again.
Instead, he let it drag him into the water.
With both hands gripping the anchor, Zach’s entire body was carried downward toward the endless abyss below.
Just as everything in front of Zach turned pitch-black, a pair of lights like searchlights at the bottom of the sea cut through the darkness and shone onto Zach’s face.
Immediately afterward, the enormous shadow that had been beneath the little boat rapidly approached Zach.
At this moment, Zach finally confirmed the guess in his heart.
It came from a nearly ten-meter-tall iron giant!
The Titan of the Depths, Nautilus!
Carried along by the anchor, Zach had already arrived in front of Nautilus.
To be precise, Zach was now right between Nautilus’s two bright, glaring eyes, while also being completely enveloped by Nautilus’s enormous shadow.
Buzz!
Beneath the deep sea, Nautilus’s anchor cut through the water and swung once again toward Zach’s body.
From the moment Nautilus’s companions refused to pay the tithe to the sea and threw him, clad in his heavy diving armor, into the deep sea, Nautilus had already gained his own purpose: to punish every person who sailed out to sea without paying the tithe to the ocean.
This was Nautilus’s obsession, and it was also the mission granted to him by the Bearded Lady!
Clearly, Zach, who had just left Shurima and did not have a penny to his name, had no way to pay the tithe to the sea.
And if one did not pay the tithe, then naturally, one would receive the sea’s punishment.
Now, that punishment had descended upon Zach’s head.
Nautilus’s enormous anchor once again arrived in front of Zach, but it was precisely at this moment that his body shook violently.
Zach seemed to completely transform into a blazing sun, and terrifying Ascended power poured wildly out of his body without restraint.
His hands gripped Nautilus’s anchor fiercely.
An incomparably terrifying force erupted from his arms as he abruptly tightened them.
Zach actually wanted to pull Nautilus toward him!
Under Zach’s terrifying strength, Nautilus’s entire body was pulled by the chain, staggering toward Zach.
The instant he arrived in front of Zach, Zach’s fist, filled with blazing golden light, smashed fiercely toward Nautilus’s head.
But just as Zach’s fist was about to hit Nautilus’s armor, a gray-white film of light suddenly appeared over the surface of his body.
Boom!
Zach’s fist struck the film of light, and a muffled roar rang out in the deep sea.
Although Zach’s punch did not injure Nautilus, it still sent his nearly ten-meter-tall body crashing backward.
Taking advantage of this chance, Zach immediately turned around and swam toward the surface.
After Nautilus forcibly steadied his body, he stomped hard on the seabed beneath his feet, and his large hand reached straight toward Zach’s legs.
But as Nautilus’s hand drew closer and closer to Zach’s legs, he saw the earthy yellow light in Zach’s hands!
The seawater began to churn violently, and the seabed beneath the deep sea trembled intensely.
Immediately afterward, countless spikes of stone rose from the bottom of the sea, rushing straight toward Nautilus!
He becomes connected to Silco’s side, gains a Skin Master System, and uses League skin-based weapons, tech, armor, and abilities to change the fate of Zaun.
Instead of letting Arcane’s tragedies play out exactly the same way, Felix tries to protect the people around him, especially Powder/Jinx, and push Zaun toward open rebellion against Piltover.
The story starts with the Piltover-Zaun conflict, then expands into the wider Runeterra setting: Noxus’s invasion of Ionia, Demacia’s internal conflict, the Freljord, Shurima, the Void, and eventually the Ruination/Shadow Isles plotline.